Cheap Organic Ferts

[Dawg]

Not counting stuff u get free (in my case I can get free manure).
Other than free stuff, what are ya'll cheapest options for Nitrogen, P, and K
please list them separately (ie N only or K only) and then list balanced options please.... I'd like to see what options for each ya'll do and if its available here as some things cheep here I see are high in cali. and some in cali are not even available here and when you need 100's of lbs to tons that gets expensive really quick... thanks for the list ya'll

example.. here cotton seed meal is $12.50 per 50 lbs. (N) soy meal is also about $13 per 50 lbs. (N) Soft Rock Phosphate is $15 per 50 lbs.

[imafan26]

You can also plant legumes as cover crops. There will be an investment for seeds and sometime for inoculant if you don't have enough of the nitrogen fixers in the soil. You can save some of the crop for seeds, for the next time. Legumes, non-legumous cover crops, and tilling in the crop residues recycle some of the plant nutrients back to the soil and add biomass. If you need potassium and want to raise the pH you can save up some wood ashes. Be careful, wood ashes are very alkaline.

Crop rotation is another way to manage your soil. The reality is on large farms and in backyards, most people plant the same thing in the same place every year. Farms do it because they usually only plant one or a few crops and they only have markets for that crop. Backyard growers only have a limited space so they have to make choices on what to grow.

Rotating crops by season helps too. Rotate a high nitrogen using crop like corn with a crop of legumes like beans that uses less nitrogen or a legume cover crop to replace some of the lost nitrogen. Crops don't use all nutrients evenly. I rotate corn with Asian vegetables in the cooler months. The cabbages are alkalinizing and scavenge leftover nitrogen from the fertilization of the corn.

If you are making your own compost, then you should be adding that every time you replant to feed the soil.

If you have the space and the time you can do some other kinds of composting as well. Trench composting is simple as there are no piles to maintain.

I get a soil test about every three years. My soil is very high is everything so I only have to add a small amount of nitrogen. Nitrogen is very volatile and will always need to be added in most cases. It saves me money by not buying fertilizer I don't need. The soil test will recommend the kind and amount of inputs I need and helps me to avoid over fertilizing. Over fertilizing can be environmentally damaging as excess amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus can make their way into the water table or wash into streams, rivers and oceans if they are not managed well and pollute the environment. It is why manures need to be managed on farms to make sure they do not run off the property. Fresh manures and manures that have not been fully composted may also be carriers of disease that can contaminate anything down stream.

[SQWIB]

Lol, I had a whole list of things till I reread the post.
"Not counting stuff u get free"

That's all I use!

[Dawg]

Lol, I had a whole list of things till I reread the post.
"Not counting stuff u get free"

That's all I use!

Well actually I shouldn't have said that as I might get good info on "FREE" stuff too. So please do add anything "FREE", but also mention how to get it, like here I can get free lime from a local mill that uses lime while making paper. Free tips are welcome too...

[jal_ut]

Do you have a lawn? Mow the lawn and save the grass clippings. Put down newspaper around a tomato plant and cover it with the grass clippings. In the fall when the leaves fall from the trees rake them up and spread on the garden. If you have animal manures available add them now too. Then till the garden. In the spring just go plant. No spring tilling.

[Vanisle_BC]

I haven't done much price comparison but I do use:

N - Afalfa, Canola or other seed meal (Not cottonseed because in the past I found it contained viable seed.) Also grass & other greens in the compost pile. Chicken manure is really good but also tends to be very weed-seedy.

P - Bone meal. Wouldn't mind finding something cheaper, but what?

K - Wood ash straight from the stove.